lovely faces

Sneak Peek . . .

What great friends I have! I love you all!

The Birthday Queen

Happy Happy Birthday to Miss Audrey! You are the best! It is as simple as that. I have had so many good and random times with you. You and I in Disney World for senior trip? Perfection! I always know that if I just want to have a good time and spontaneous adventure you are the one to call! You are always coming up with great ideas and fun plans! I am so excited for you and the next phase of your life. CJ seems like a doll and I can't wait to get to know him better! Love you forever! Hope you have had the BEST day!!!

You're birthday last year!

I can't wait to be back in Provo with you! Happy Birthday Audrey!!

AUDREY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Thanks for being so cute Audge, we have had some pretty great times together! You are a ton of fun and you have such a cute personality.

The big 2-1 WHOOT WHOOT!

Now that you can buy alcohol . . .

My dearest Audrey,

I love you.  I can remember the very first time I even heard about you--I drew a picture of what I thought you would look like and gave it to you (and a pack of Oreos) as a welcome-to-the-hood present.  If only I could put to words how great our friendship has been--solving mysteries, watching worms under our magnifying glasses every time it rained, finding ghost stories wherever possible, eating our favorite foods, beating the boys in Nintendo, singing songs at the tops of our lungs (singing in church . . .), acting like secret agents as we asked/answered to dances, WATER POLO, reading Harry Potter, riding our bikes at the school, our many sleepovers, etc.

But not only do we have fabulous memories, but you have been a true and loyal friend throughout the years:

• When you gave away your gel pen collection so that we could still be friends
• When you sat for hours nursing my sunburns in Lake Powell
• When you bore hanging out with Alex and me just so that I could be with him
• When you drove me places
• When you listen to me talk about random things
• When you supported me after boys were stupid
• When you helped me survive calculus and english
• When you helped me during my wisdom teeth stuff
• Etc.

I am so grateful for your friendship, and I am so happy you were born to my wonderful foster parents these 21 years ago.  And I tried to find pictures that described us best . . .

happy birthday audrey!

yep. I love him.

Last night, Cj had a work meeting so I started the first season of Vampire Diaries (don't judge. I needed a new show) fresh out of the shower with wet hair, in sweats, and curled up in a blanket. After he was done, he walked into my room and handed me a box of See's chocolates. Oh how I could not wait to rip of the wrapping paper and dig into chocolates while watching a dramatic pre teen soap opera! He asked me if I wanted to go get hot chocolate and I of course said no. Shorts, tank top, wet hair, cold weather, chocolates? I was content. Next thing I know, he has me flung over his shoulders as I'm yelling, "Ok, ok I'll walk! I'll walk!" Nope. He didn't let me walk. So we walked out of my apartment, with me still flung over his shoulder, and blood rushing to my head.

Once I was in his car with the car door closed so there were no means of escape, I saw a certificate on the dashboard. Yes. My future hubby won an award at his work meeting. 100% on time. Atta boy. We got 7 eleven hot chocolate and he introduced me to irish creme instead of french vanilla. Conversion happened people. Then I had a sudden craving... cheese fries! My sweet fiance then headed on over to JCW's were I ordered not only cheese fries, but a bacon avocado swiss cheeseburger. Heaven. Did I mention that I went to In N Out for lunch in work out clothes? Talk about being counter productive... All the while we sang to the radio and laughed about stories from our day.

Anywho, I just love this guy. And I can't wait to get married. Less than five months people!!

...

Shoot we are all just so busy, what a crazy time of year! Good luck to all of you going through finals right now!! and I cant wait to see everyone in just a week!

(this quote... random? Yes. I just really liked it for some reason.)

Twilight 4 aka Breaking Dawn aka Cinematic Gold

Have any of you ever wondered how much you would be willing to risk for true love? Have you ever considered what lengths you would go to, just to save the life of your own child? Could you even imagine trying to fight against some twisted dichotomy of your heart while enduring these other excruciating trials?

Have you ever thought about how hard it would be to be a heroine as amazing as Bella Swan? (Sorry, Bella Cullen.)

In order to truly understand these difficult questions, we eagerly went to the matinee showing of Twilight 4. Large drink and popcorn bucket (and maybe a few tissues) in hand. The air in theater was pungent with the aroma of anticipation, excitement, and a blend of at least 524* teenage girls' perfume.
*actual capacity of the theater. I called and asked. 

Our seat mates couldn't have been more perfect. The girls behind us giggled and clapped with delight each time Jacob walked on to the screen.

"OMG. He is so hot" or "He is sooo sexy" or "I want to have his werewolf babies"... alright maybe I made that last one up.

The couple to our left was even better. Any time there was a declaration of love during the film (which, as you can imagine, happened quite frequently) they promptly began kissing and groping one another. For example, those of you who have read the book willl recall that Jacob imprints on Renesmee, the vampire baby whose unique name quality is reminiscent of a black woman named Raeshonda.

During this scene, the man turned to his girlfriend and said "I imprinted on you." She gasped at the romance of it all and they kissed for the next three minutes. It was a beautifully original sentiment and we were left envious that we did not have a man with as much passion as him.

And the children. What would a movie experience be without children walking in and out of a movie with scenes very inappropriate for their age? Two wandering kids periodically cried out "MOMMY!" searching for her in the audience and walked out when she ignored them.  There were also a few strollers in the aisles.

As for the actual movie, it was incredible. The wedding scene was exquisite, completed by ill-fitting brown and gold contact lenses on the vampires and an awkwardly intimate scene with the bride and her old pal Jacob. The honeymoon was also sufficiently awkward, with a very conspicuous lack of Edward's abdomen. Clearly the producers realized there would be no competing with Jacob's shirtless physique and opted to show lots of Edward's not very muscular back. I must say I was grateful for this because I was traumatized Edward's  glittering yet hairy chest  and stomach in New Moon.

Also, even though the majority of us knew what was going to happen next, the whole theater almost threw up together multiple times :
1. When Bella drank blood to feed her baby.

2. When Bella chose the name Renesmee.

3. During the sound effects of the seizure inducing birth scene (in which Edward bites the umbilical cord.  Thankfully, you don't see it but you can hear it. Oh, can you hear it...)

The entertainment value of this whole experience was priceless. I felt as though all of girl world had been united by the cinematic phenomenon.
We wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Greetings from the East Coast

As most of you probably know since I have advertised it everywhere...I ran a half-marathon! Yes, I am very proud of myself and you should be too. haha I never thought I would do it but I did and I even finished faster then I ever thought. Wahoo!!
Other than that my only news is that I get home in 3 weeks! Time has seriously flown and I can't believe it is over. My next adventure is attempting to stay in Utah for more than 3 months. We will see how that one goes! I will be accepting bets on this matter.
I feel like everyone is always sharing funny stories on here and I don't feel like I have too many. I laugh to much in a day to share it all plus you can just be directed to my blog where most of my pointless stories are recorded.
I am still answering phones and being yelled at about how the dirty republicans are the Nazi party of America. (Meg you would probably love this job haha) Or parents calling and asking what Chinese language their child should learn so he can become an astronaut.
Pretty much life is good and treating me well. There are multiple occurrences a day that make me giggle. I am going to be sad to leave my new home but can't wait to return home to all of you!

And in case you were wondering I am writing this post at work. You wouldn't think so but working in a government office can get boring just in case any of you were thinking of doing this for a living.

Sister Morgan, be prepared.

So, like I said, we get a lot of scouts at my work.  In the summer, we had a giant "Cub Scout Day" and we took some pictures.  This little series kills me every  time  I look at it.  So Megs, look forward to trying to explain things to boys like this . . .

I'm Going To Be A Mother!

A den mother that is. I got this new calling last Sunday and at first I wanted to laugh because who in their right mind would trust me with anything that has to do with scouts? Then I wanted to cry. I don't know the first thing about scouting... granted it is just cub scouts. But still. So now I'm going to have to learn how to do everything I suck at (i.e. boy scouting things, i.e. camping/hiking/being outdoorsy). So Anna, can ya help a girl out??

Per Anna's request....

So... my latest news, as told to Anna last night on the phone, is that I cut my hair! I haven't had hair this short probably since I was like eight years old. I went to get it done on a whim because one of my classes got out early and I wanted to procrastinate doing my homework and this is the result. Tell me what you think. I have already had several friends tell me they miss my long hair, but so far no one has said it looks totally terrible. Be honest! haha
Other than that my life is still mostly just class, work, homework, maybe sleep and eat, and the repeat. Blah blah blah.

Love you all!!!

call me crazy...

but I truly, honestly from the bottom of my broken heart (name that song) think that Anna and Brightwell should freaking date already!!

On a side note: Anna you're flippin HAWT in this picture. Love you. Thanks for putting up with all the torment I put you through.

ahjdbfbecalje

Does this happen to anyone else... when you comment on any blog and it makes you do the word verification every single time? Am I the only one this happens to, and am I the only one who gets completely annoyed by it? And its never an actual word and it always is like swervy.

Is it

A: to make sure I am not drunk and writing comments that I will later regert?

B: a test because only smart people are aloud to comment?

C: Are they are trying to make it fun by giving me a brain teaser?

So am I the only one that doesnt know what this is for and have just been doing it all this time wondering what the heck was going on? I might be making myself sound stupid but oh well.

So random I know I just had to share.

Love you all and hope you are doing wonderful.

randomness of my fiance

"Is there such thing as too much Audrey?"

(He was talking about our previous conversation which was also random. He wants paintings that are worth millions and millions of dollars in our future house. He can dream right?)

Next sentence. Same text.

"Random question, can animals get sunburned?"

Me after a sudden eruption of laughter: "How did you think of that?"

Him: "We're the only species that gets sunburned, commits suicide, or cooks its own food. We are truly unique."

More laughter. Speechlessness. 

I think I'll keep him.

*just in case you wanted to know*

According to Tony Barthel, curator of the elephant house and cheetah conservation house (whatever that means) at the Smithsonian's National Zoo, some animals do in fact get sunburned. Animals with exposed skin are more susceptible to burning than animals with feathers, scales, or dense fur. Basically, elephants, rhinos, and "freshly shorn" sheep are at risk. Little research has been devoted to this topic.

Date A Girl Who Reads

Kacey posted this on her blog and I thought it was pretty cute so naturally I had to share it with all of you. It is a little long but read it, you will love it.

Date A Girl Who Reads

Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent.  Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes.

rex

My sister is going to have a boy!! They are going to name him Rex and he is going to be awesome. And he is due March 3rd now because he's a biggin.

I AM SO EXCITED!!

stocks and blondes

I know that some of you get Kamrin's weekly e-mails, but I wanted to share this part with everyone to brighten up your Monday:

"Dearly beloved. We are gathered here today to-- read this letter:

i had a good week. we had 9 lessons. that's a lot for our area right now.
They don't do halloween here, like you thought. BUT i am going to. and i will tell my neighbors about it so that we can go trick-or-treating.
     
PARAGRAPH #2:    SO. i know you are wondering what my friend LANCE did or said this week. we went to his house on thursday and he started telling us all about this stock trading manual he just finished reading. which contains the true secret of how to get rich without doing any work!!!!!!! you can make loads of cash in your own living room!!!!! Tried and tested methods, proven to make you rich and successful!!!!!! we found out he is about to sign up for one of those get-rich-quick pyramid schemes. He is also going to sign up for one of those fake online stock-broking programs. He calls it a commodity trading program, says people make thousands of dollars on it.. To me, it looks like online monopoly. He and his roommate are becoming "business partners" and opening up a bank account together. They asked my companion to sign all their legal documents saying that he is the witness for all their partnership stuff. And my companion was happy to do it. haha. So now he is the legal witness for a joint-trading ukrainian-american bank account, shared by a pony-tailed Canadian cowboy and a low-ridin gangsta engineering student from Nigeria.   uh-huh. yeeeeppp.

Speaking of my companion. If he were a crayon in a Crayola box, he would be the one called "barbie blonde." evidence supporting my theory: Yesterday he burned himself on the stove. he ran into the other room to give his finger some instant medical attention. he threw on a couple BAND-AIDS and then suddenly everything was better. i didn't understand. i told him to put it under cold water or something, use some aloe vera. him: "WHY?.. LOOK, i just put bandaids on." OH, now i understand. me: "if you use three bandaids instead of two, it will heal three times as fast." him: "this box is empty! we need to go by more bandaids."

More evidence: this week he asked me if ties come from Thailand."

fuh yeah

So, this is what my engagement ring is going to look like. Audrey and Megen, you guys can get one for an anniversary ring. Then we will all start a gang. Who's in?

Anna, I still love you.

So I must have missed the memo about writing about Anna... So Anna, please don't take it offensively.
ANNA,
Oh what a girl! Just cutting to the chase, you're the most close to perfect person that I know. We've had so many memories together that I will never forget- from meeting in gym class to traveling to Europe. I can't tell you how lucky I am that I met you! Here are the reasons why I love you:

[insert cheesy engagement title here]

Sooo I'm engaged! Here's the story. I copied it from my blog that I made for me and Cj (it's cjandaudrey.blogspot.com pretty cheesy so far. deal with it)

On September 30th, Cj got in a car accident and had to go under for surgery on his eyelid (more on this later). As he was coming out of the anesthesia he said so sadly, "And I was going to propose in eight days." I just rubbed his shoulder and said, "I don't think you wanted to tell me that, but it's ok. You can propose whenever you'd like." I thought it was so funny that he spilled that information, yet so cute because he was so bummed about it. The next day I asked him if he remembered telling me that he was going to propose in eight days. He just looked at me kind of bummed again and said, "I did? Shoot. Yeah I was going to."

Well eight days later...

We had been wanting to go to the outlets for sometime. Cj needed some new shirts for work and I wanted to go see the sale at JCrew. My Dad had called me earlier that day and asked if I would go get the shotgun because he was going to the range that week. I thought nothing of it. "Sure Dad, we'll totally just stop on the way and get it." After shopping, we headed over to the ranch.

Once we got to the ranch, I tried to find the keys to get into the house, but couldn't find them Thanks Kyle for putting them in the soda machine. Anyways, we were walking around the ranch just talking, when he said that we should go sit up in this...

 

... that's next to the river that flows through my ranch. We were sitting and talking and he started to act really weird. He was asking me questions like, "So how are things going with your roommates?" I burst out laughing and said, "What is this a bishops interview? Cj you know how things are going you see them everyday! What is your deal right now?" Then we continued on talking and he got quiet for a little.  Then he told me that the real reason we were here was not to get my Dad's shot gun, but that he wanted to propose, but before he proposed he wanted to say a few things. He talked about when he first saw me and came to know me; how he fell in love with me; what he loved about me; he said that he couldn't wait to start our lives together. He then made a few promises; he promised that he would always be a worthy priesthood holder and a good father to our children; he promised that he would always love and cherish me. He said that I didn't know how much I meant to him and how I've been the greatest blessing in his life. Then he got down on a knee and asked me to marry him.

What he said before he proposed was honestly the sweetest thing I have ever heard in my whole life. I wish I could remember word for word what he said. It was so sweet because he got all choked up as he was talking. One thing I love about Cj, is when he talks I can feel that he loves me. As he was saying those words, I could feel his love for me.

Afterwards, we carved our initials and the date so we'd always have something to look back on. As we were driving back he was talking about how he wanted to take me somewhere that meant something to me and a place that we could always go back to. The ranch was perfect because not only do I love it there, but we'll always go back and be able to show our kids one day.

 

We went back to my house and my parents obviously knew that he was proposing tonight. They were so excited for us. Emily, my little sister, and her friends were over. They all sat their with their faces in their hands as we told how he proposed. They then ran and told the neighborhood that I was engaged. They're so funny. 

This is my ring.

The picture doesn't do the ring any justice because it is so much prettier in person. My mom let me use her original band and then Cj bought the diamond. I love it because it has so much meaning. I'm obsessed with it. I still can't stop looking at it and I still can't believe that I have a ring on my finger!

I've been so blessed to have my loved ones in my life be so excited for me! Not only do I feel loved by Cj, but everyone that has congratulated me over the days. I'm so lucky to have so many amazing people in my life!

freshman fifteen

We miss you guys.  Come to Provo.  

[ at least for a visit.]

So this is kind of embarrassing....

So... awkward. Maybe you haven't noticed, but I've kind of been a slacker when it comes to this whole blog shin-dig thing. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the idea and I've been reading all about you all. So now that I've finally figure out how to post (after about a month of trying and a few phone calls to anna...) here it is:

MARRIED LIFE. It's great. It's fabulous. It's like living with your best friend, except he's a boy and we can't share clothes. So what are the best things about being married, you ask? I'll tell ya
1. Having Modern Family Marathons.
2. Making dinner together (which usually consists of quesadillas, french toast, or waffles).
3. Having a permanent doubles partner.
4. Listening to Trent sing Newsies, the "Tonight, Tonight" song (there's a party on the rooftop top of the world-  you know the one), or just highpitched notes that sounds like Bollywood music.
5. Trent falling asleep in the first five minutes of every movie we watch.
6. Waking up to watch soccer at 5:30 on Sunday mornings.
7. Helping him choose outfits to wear (he goes through about 5 outfits before finding one that actually matches- how did he ever make it without me??)
8. Trent taking me to get ice cream whenever I want.
There are about a million more things I could say, but this'll have to do. So pretty much being married is the greatest, especially when I have such a great husband. He makes me more happy than anything else. What a guy! I can't wait for you all to get to know him better. So I can't figure out how to get the pictures off my camera, so this one will have to do.

Loony McKean!!

I know I am so late on this it isn't even funny, but this is literally the first time I have been able to look at the blog since I last posted. This is such a cute idea! Thanks Mal and I dido everything htat has been said so far. Now let me tell you a little story.

I didn't go to my first day of school in sixth grade. Whether I was actually sick. or whether I just felt sick from being scared I will probably never know, but the point is, I missed a crucial day of meeting people and making new friends at an old/new school. On the second day, after my mom dragged me out of bed and sent me walking down the street, I nervously arrived in front of Mr Sain's classroom door. I didn't want to go in. I was so afraid that I wouldn't like being back at Indian Hills but I figured it couldn't be that much different or worse than Rosalyn so I ventured in through the door. The students were all hustling to their seats around me, talking and being friends, and then through the crowd I saw a familiar face approaching me.
"Hi, I am Anna! Do you remember me? We were friends when we were little and we hung out again after Jane's Birthday party last year," She said with a huge smile as she leaned in to hug me.
After that, I was sold. Indian Hills would be great. I had friends on that first day thanks to Anna and she has been one of the best ever since.



Anna I hope you know you are the sweetest person alive. Every time people are talking badly about someone, you step in to say some of their good positive qualities. I used to joke with my sister that I didn't need to strive to be more like Jesus because I could just strive to be more like Anna; it was almost the same thing! haha
But seriously, you are so wonderful! I love that you always think to call me even when I have been MIA for weeks on end and feel like I have dropped off the face of the planet. I miss hanging gout with you every weekend like in high school! We had some good and some random times...like when we went and sat out at Johnny's house forever, but all the time with you was pure fun, pure happiness, and purely Luna!
Thank you for all you do to keep us together! You are an amazing person and I am still convinced you might run against James for President and become the first woman president! You have to admit it would be cool!


I love you!

muchas gracias

You are all so sweet.  Thank you thank you thank you--I just sit and reread those whenever something (aka school) is frustrating and just smile.  You guys are seriously the best friends I could ever have.  On this world.  In the universe.  Etc.  I love you guys girls.

Another thing, say hello to my nephew!

My mom is down in Dallas with them right now and says that he is just adorable.  Hopefully more come along soon.

xoxo.

dear anna

I think this just about sums up how much you mean to me.

you da bomb.

love you bffeafm.

Kean

Just looked at the blog, loved the idea of posting about you, so sorry this is late!

Oh how I love you so! You were my first friend when I moved to Utah way back when we were seven years old. We've had so many good times through out the years that I will never forget. To name a few:

• checking out books on ghouls, ghosts, witches, spells, and potions
• when we were spies and tried to figure out the mystery of the haunted house inbetween our houses on Roxbury
• getting the HP7 book the second it came out at Smiths and reading it in your basement
• sleepovers at your house when I refused to live at the ranch
• Arthur and Dragon Tales
• Calculus (so many things ranging from our class rap to making fun of Jonny to making stories out of pointless story problems to you being so patient trying to explain every problem to me... bless my heart)
• scooter ride down to Highland when I scraped up my knee big time
• when we took pictures with Goch impersonating different animals and movie characters
• going down to Foothill and buying AE clothes at Down East
• when we cut our hair to our shoulders and wore our 3/4 length shirts together in elementary school. twinners!

You're honestly the best person I know! Smart, beautiful, funny, caring. You've got it all. I love you sooo unbelievably much and can't wait for all the memories to come!